Process and device for shooting in filling yarns for warp knitting machines



Sept. 22, 1970 w. PALANGE 3,529,443

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING IN FILLING YARNS FOR WARP KNITTINGMACHINES Filed June 7, 1968 9 sheets-shag 1 Fig I U7 I54 I 5 v Sept. 22,1970 w. PALANGE 3,529,443

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING IN FILLING YARNS FOR WARP KNITTINGMACHINES Filed June '7, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet :3

Sept. 22, 1970 w. PALANGE PROCESS AND DEVICE FDR SHQOTING IN FILLINGYARNS FOR WARP KNITTING MACHINES 9 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 7, 1968 Sept.22, 1970 w. PALANGE PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING IN FILLING YARNS FORWARP KNITTING MACHINES Filed June 7, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet (p p 2 1970 w.PALANGE 3,529,443

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING IN FILLING YARNS FOR WARP KNITTINGMACHINES Filed June 7, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 5 f i I 4 Q Q FT 6 n "I s l 3m E y Q ct J .5 CE qi M l) g N as p r i Sept. 22, 1970 w. PALANGE3,529,443

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING IN FILLING YARNS FOR WARP KNITTINGMACHINES Filed June 7, 1968 9 Shee'tsSheet e,

Sept. 22, 1970 w. PALANGE 3,

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING IN FILLING YARNS FOR WARP KNITTINGMACHINES E Filed June 7, 1968 9 SheetsSheet '7 Se t. 22, 1970 w. PALANGE3,529,443

PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING'IN FILLING YARNS FDR WARP KNITTINGMACHINES Filed June 7. 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 g I y! (/16 a M M 1s Sept.22, 1970 PALANGE 3,529,

PROCESS AND DE E FOR OOTIN N FILLING YARNS FOR WARP KN ING M INES FiledJune 7, 1968 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Fig 10d 135" /0a" United States Patent3,529,443 PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR SHOOTING IN FILLING YARNS FOR WARPKNITTING MACHINES Walter Palange, Oisterwijk, North Brabant,Netherlands, assignor to Jean Gusken, Dulken, Germany Filed June 7,1968, Ser. No. 735,459 Claims priority, application Germany, June 7,1967, 1,635,809 Int. Cl. D04b 23/00 US. Cl. 66-86 18 Claims ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE A process and a device for the shooting in of fillingyarns for warp knitting machines of the type wherein two rows of guideneedles face each other and form a links-links knitted fabric throughreciprocal takeover of stitches. The warp threads run from the needleholes to the fabric and form an open shed alternatingly toward the frontend and the rear of the machine. Filling yarns run from a supply bobbinthrough a feed position located approximately in the middle of themachine to the rows of the needles. A tied up filling yarn at one edgeof the fabric is pulled out in the opposite direction to form a loop,the apex of which moves on a path parallel the rows of needles, up toand beyond the longitudinal extent of the rows of needles. The loopstrand running from the apex to the tied up loop is then swung into theknitting shed opened at this point.

BACKGROUND Field of the invention The invention concerns a process and.a device for the shooting in of filling yarns for warp knittingmachines, with two rows of guide needles forming a links-links warpknitted fabric through mutual takeover of stitches, transposable inrelation to one another and facing each other, where the warp threadsdelivered from the needle holes to the fabric will form an open shedalternatingly toward the other longtitudinal side of the machine aftereach takeover of stitch.

Description of the prior art Placing of the filling thread in theproduction of knitted fabrics has been known heretofore. Differing fromwoven cloths, however, the filling in most cases do not extend all theway across the fabric but only across (or to be more precise,underneath) a limited number of needles in the stitches in which thefilling yarns have been tied up. This limitation of the length of thefilling is necessary in order to attain a sufficiently high knittingspeed which should be several times higher than the weaving speed,without injuring the threads during the drawing off of the fabric.

Placings of fillings underneath a limited number of needles requires anadditional guide needle bar. The insertion of such a guide bar does notcause any particular difficulties in the case of raschel knittingmachines; However, conditions are different in the case of links-linkswarp knitting machines of the type to which this invention pertains.Here, the formation of the stitch is accomplished exclusively by twoguide needle rows passing alternatingly with their heads through thepaths of needles lying opposite each other. A third row of guide needlesof placing of filling yarns would not only bring about a considerablyincreased expenditure by way of construction but, beyond that, it woulddecrease considerably the knitting performance because of the periods ofdisuse 3,529,443 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 ICC cross the entire 'width ofthe fabric without being limited for the tentering of these fillingyarns to the time period of the opening of the shed. Rather, it will bepossible to tenter the filling yarns during the preceeding formation ofstitches or, preparatorily, even prior to that, and then to shoot themin to the open shed in the transverse direction. Nevertheless, aninterruption in the drawing ofi of the filling yarns from the supplybobbin for the duration of. the shooting in of the filling yarn has notbeen avoided, so that during the drawing off itself very high drawingoff speeds must occur. Further, the lengthwise drawing off of thefilling yarns used in the case of weaving machines and the subsequenttransverse movement of said yarns into the shed in the path raisesconstruction problems, which, heretofore, were impossible to solveeconomically as well as technically in a satisfactory manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention tosolve these problems and to provide a process for shooting in thefilling yarn in the case of warp knitting machines of the kind mentionedabove, wherein the drawn off filling yarn is conserved as much aspossible.

According to the present invention this problem is solved by drawing outa filling yarn running from a supply bobbin through a feed positionlocated approximately in the middle of the machine, spaced transverselyfrom the rows of needles, and running to a tied up filling at one edgeof the fabric. The filling yarn is drawn in an opposite direction toform a loop whose apex moves on a. path which is located parallel to andis spaced transversely distant from the rows of needles, up to andbeyond the longitudinal extent of the rows of needles, whereupon thelooped strand running from the apex to the tied up filling is swung intothe knitting shed which is open at this time. Since in the case of theprocess according to the invention the apex of the loop developsgradually from a filling yarn running to the tied-up filling at the edgeof the fabric, drawing off the thread starts very gently and can then beincreased by a correspondingly quick movement at the apex of the loop toa very high drawing-off speed Without any impermissably high stresses ofthe filling yarn occurring.

Effectively, swinging that looped strand running to the tied-up fillinginto the knitting shed takes place through a continuous movement of theloop apex transversely to the lengthwise extent of the rows of guideneedles. It is also advantageous to control the stitch forming movementsof the rows of guide needles in such a manner that the swinging-inmovement of the looped strand running to the untied filling takes placein a knitting shed which is open in the direction of the swing-in side,whereby the knitting shed, for practical purposes, will closeimmediately after completion of the swing-in movement. But it is alsopossible for the filling yarn to be shot into a knitting shed pointedoppositely to the shooting-in side, whereby the filling yarn is thenguided above the heads of the guide below said needles.

A device for carrying out the process according to the inventioncomprises two drivers, movable back and forth alongside the rows ofguide needles and transposed in the longitudinal direction of the rowsof guide needles, each time through whose lagging driver at least onefilling I yarn arriving from a supply bobbin can be drawn out to form aloop. The drivers at the ends of the back-and-forth movements, runningalong the rows of guide needles, carry out movements which areadditional to these former movements whereat the lagging driver moves ina direction away from the rows of guide needles.

According to another feature of the invention, a filling yarn feed andexchange arrangement, which can be operated by control chains, and whichand is known per se, is arranged at the feed position of the fillingyarns, through which arrangement a number of filling yarns can bebrought singly or several of them into the path of the lagging driver ina sequence which can be controlled as desired.

Preferably the drivers are carried by two endless chains revolvingaround end wheels staggered in relation to one another in a longitudinaldirection. In place of the chains, of course, it is also possible to usebands, belts or the like. On one longitudinal side of the machine allchain strands effectively run parallel and at a small distance from oneanother. It will also be advantageous if the two end wheels which drivethe chains are located at the lengthwise ends of rows of guide needlesaround which the chain is looped. Since the drivers complete theshooting in of the filling yarns during their turn around these drivinggears a tensing of the filling yarns takes place simultaneously as aresult of this choice of rotational direction of the driving wheels.

According to another feature of the invention, given by way of example,maneuverable thread retarders are arranged at the ends of the rows ofguide needles, around which, in the operating state, the filling yarnsemerging at the pertinent edge of the fabric will loop.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to improve shooting-in offilling yarns in a links-links knitting machine. Other objects and theadvantages will become apparent from the detailed description to follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be explained inmore detail with reference to a preferred embodiment as shown in thedrawing 'by way of example, whereby further objects and advantages ofthe invention will become apparent.

FIG. 1 shows a perpendicular section through a linkslinks warp knittingmachine in the area of the knitting tools,

FIG. 2 shows a section of FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale and turnedclockwise by 30.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a part of a needle bar with the guide needlesattached to said bar in actual size, and wherein the parts, lying one ontop of the other, have been broken away at varying lengths.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view along line IV--IV in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a cross section through the shaft of a guide needle, takenalong line V-V in FIG. 4, but shown on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal section through a swing bearing of the sinkercombs, taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the machine obliquely from above taken alongline VIIVII in FIG. 1, wherein the chains of the shooting-in arrangementfor the filling are shown schematically.

FIGS. 8a to 80 are symbolic drawings of the vertical movements (asreviewed in FIGS. 9a to f) of the guide needles, the forward movement ofthe rear guide needle bar from a reference position, and the traversemovement of the sinker combs, respectively.

FIGS. 9a to 9 show one guide needle each of the front and rear rows ofthe needles, as well as the sinker combs, in various working positionsduring one-half revolution of the main shaft of the machine.

FIGS. 10a to 10f show various stages in the operation of the device forshooting in the filling yarn of the warp knitting machine according tothe invention during two revolutions of the main shaft of the machine.

. 4 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the presentinvention as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the warp knitting machine of thepreferred embodiment has a machine frame 10, which in the conventionalmanner has two parallel frame walls connected by several bars, betweenwhich walls there are two warp beams 11, 12 as well as the knittingtools and between which the finished knitted fabric is drawn off.

A first needle bar 15 is articulated to a bar 13 through a stationaryaxis and slidable to a limited degree. The bar 13 is U-shaped in itscross section and has several axial thrust joints 14, distributed alongits length. The bar 15 is located in front (when viewed from theoperating side of the machine which is the left side in FIG. 1). Asecond bar 16, U-shaped in its cross section, is articulated to a rearneedle bar 18 through an axis which has axial thrust joints 17. The bar16 is swingable and axially slidable to a limited degree on said axis.The axial thrust joints 17 are not attached to the bar 13, as is thecase with the first needle bar 15, but they are carried by connectingrods 19, which are slidable through the bar 16 within guide bushings 20.A spiral spring 21, mounted on each connecting rod 19, is supportedbetween the guide bushing 20 and a disk 23 which, in turn, is secured bya resilient ring 22. A cam follower roller 24, mounted at the other endof the connecting rod 19, continuously rests on a cam disk 26 which ismounted on cam shaft 25.

During operation and in a manner which will be explained in more detailfurther below, this cam causes the bar 18 to be moved periodically andby a small amount toward the front needle bar 15 and back again.

The needle bars 15, 18 comprise magnesium profiles,

whose free ends are directed essentially towards each other. Each needlebar 15, 16 carries a row of guide needles 27, 28 respectively. The guideneedles 27, 28, as shown FIGS. 3 and 4, are not attached to the needlesin the usual manner but are inserted into spaced apart recesses 29 inmiddle beds 30. The needles are kept in place with the help of a numberof covers 31 which are attached above the needle beds 30 with the helpof screws 32 on the needle bar. Preferably, the separating seams betweenthe covers 31 run obliquely in relation to the guide needles to assurethat all guide needles are covered by the covers 31. As FIG. 5 shows,each guide needle 27, 28 has a shaft 33 having a U-shaped profile above,which is followed by the needle head 35, and the needle shaft 33- asidefrom being straight has two approximately equally large opposingcurvatures 36, 37 limited to relatively short areas, through which theneedle head 35 attains a position parallel to shaft 33 and staggeredtoward the top in relation to the needle shaft 33. This parallelstaggering corresponds approximately to half the swiveling path throughwhich the needle head 35 passes in a perpendicular direction during thestitch formation.

The warp threads 38, 39, as shown in FIG. 1, after arriving from thewarp beams 11, 12, are fed to the guide needles 27, 28 via threadtensioning rockers 40, 41 and guide rolls 42, 43. The warp threadsrunning freely across the cover 31 are guided, as shown in FIG. 4, forneedles 27, by two lengthwise staggered eyes 44 and 45 along guide wires46, 47 inserted in the profile sides of the needle shaft 33 into theinside to the needle shaft profiled in a U-shape. The wires thus serveas guides for the warp threads up to the needle heads 35 and prevent theportion of the warp thread between shaft 33 and needle eye 34 from beingseized by a needle 28 passing between the needle shafts 33 at needles27. Such seizure would lead to an immediate break in the thread.

The swnging movements of the needle bars 15, 18 around the swinging axeson which are formed the axial thrust joints 14, 17, are controlled bycam disks, which are arranged on two main shafts 48 and 49 extendingbelow the bars 13, 14. The main shafts 48, 49 mounted in a known mannerin the walls of the machine frame 10, are driven from the same drivingsource (not shown) as the cam shaft 25 and at the same rotational speed.Such driving source would be located outside the walls of the frame 10.The main shafts 48, 49 each carry several pairs of cam disks 50-51 and52-53, distributed over its length. 'Each pair of cam disks is enclosedby a box 58, 59 mounted on square pipe bars 54-55 and 56-57, in whichbox a three-armed compensating lever 60, 61 has been mounted to beswingable around a bearing axis 62, 63. Two arms of each compensatinglever 60, 61 extending in opposite peripheral directions along thesurface of the cam disks carry follower rollers 64, 65 and 66-67 onopposite sides, which roll, one each on the cam disks 50-51 and 52-53and continuously contact their respective cam surface. The swingingmovement of the compensating levers 60, 61 is thus dependent upon theshape and rotation of the cam disks.

The free third arm of each compensating lever 60, 61 is articulated to abearing block 74, 75, which blocks are screwed to the undersides of thesides of the needle bars 15, 18 carrying the needle beds 30, viacoupling links 72, 73 which are provided at both of their ends with balljoints 68-69 and 70-71, the length of which couplings are preferablyadjustable. The ball joints 68-69 and 70-71, together with the axialthrust joints 14, 17 make possible the staggering movement of the needlebars 15 and 18 required for knitting, which movement is controlled in aknown manner by a staggering arrangement placed outside one frame wallof the machine frame at a certain relationship to the swinging movementof the rows 27, 28 of guide needles, and brought about by the cam disks50-51 and 52-53. Since such staggering arrangements are well known perse, a more detailed description is not thought to be necessary.

Between the boxes 58, 59 for the cam disks there is a fabric removingarrangement comprising two delivery rolls 76 and 77, as well as twopressure rolls 78 and 79 for the knitted fabric 80 produced by the guideneedles 27, 28. The fabric winds around the delivery rolls 76 and 77between the upper pressure roll 78. The delivery rolls 76, 77 are drivenpositively. The pressure rolls 78, 79 have been mounted to be shiftedtowards and away fram each other. The pressure roll 78 is drawn by thematerial 80 winding around it, into the wedge-shaped gap between thedelivery rolls 76 and 77. However the pressure roll 79 is pressedagainst the delivery rolls 76, 77 by the force of a spring (not shown).

As becomes clear in FIG. 6, at the reduced crosssection ends of thedelivery roll 76, a supporting lever 83 has been rotatably mounted onball bearings 81, 82. Annular covers 84, 85, which are screwed to theends of a hub formed on the supporting lever, hold the outside ballraces of the ball bearings 81, 82 in position against spring rings 83,84 inside a bore 86 in the hub. The inside ball races of the ballbearings 81, 82 are held in position between a shoulder shaped section71 at the reduced end of the delivery roll 76 and a casing 88 fixed by aclamp screw 87 on the delivery roll 76.

The free ends of the supporting levers 83, strengthened on the outsideby ribs, as shown in FIG. 6, have been broadened in the shape of ahammer in the tangential direction about the axis of roll 76 (see FIG.2) and across their entire width they have a projection 89, projectingtoward the other lever 83, the flat upper side 90 of said projectiondirected tangentially and serving as a guide surface for two sinker bars90, 91 which have an angular shape in their cross section. The sinkerbars 90, 91 have been attached at their front sides to the supportinglevers 83 by means of screws 92, 93, which penetrate through anelongated slot 94 extending almost across the entire hammer-shapebroadening of the supporting lever 83. By loosening screws 92, 93, it ispossible to change the spacing between the sinker bars 90, 91 within awide range.

Sinker comb leads 97, 98 are attached by screws 95, 96 to the outsidesof the upward directed sides of the sinker bars 90, 91, into which thesinkers 99 (FIG. 6) have been inserted with the same spacing as with therows 27, 28 of the guide needles. The sinkers 99 form two sinker cams100, 101 running toward each other at a transverse distance from eachother, between which the drawn oft fabric is guided. The outsidebevelled edges of the sinker bars 90, 91 have been rounded in order toprevent damage to the fabric passing between them.

The entire sinker comb arrangement is driven through cam discs (notshown), which are located in pairs outside the cam disks 50, 51 on thefront main shaft 48 and which have associated therewith three-armedcompensating levers in the same manner as the cam disks 50, 51. Part ofthe outline of such a compensating lever 103 can be recognized in FIG. 1behind the compensating lever 60. The compensating levers 103 are eachconnected through a coupling 102 with a second arm of the compensatinglever 83 developed as toggle levers. Special ball bearings at the endsof the couplings, as in the case of the couplings 72, 73, areunnecessary in the case of couplings 102 since the sinker camarrangement, differing from the needle bars, does not execute an axialstagger movement.

As becomes clear particularly in FIGS. 2 and 7, a base plate 104 of ahollowed out U-shape (when viewed from above as in FIG. 7), and whichhas its sides directed forward, rests on the frame walls 105, 106 of themachine. The plate 104 extends on three sides around the rows 27, 28 ofguide needles at about the height of the upper sides of the needle bars15, 18. A number of chain sprockets are mounted on the base plate 104around which two endless chains 107 and 108 are wound to follow a pathcorresponding to the U-shape of the plate. The chain 107 extends withits strands 109 and 110 guided essentially in parallel from one drivingwheel 111, located in the middle of the right-hand side of the baseplate, following the shape of the base plate 104 around wheels 112, 113,114, 115, as well as an intermediate wheel 116', to a tension wheel 117,located at the front end of the left-hand side of the base plate 104.The chain 108 also extends with its strands 118, 119 essentiallyparallel and outside of chain 107 and following the same general course,from a driving wheel 120, located in the middle of the left-hand side ofthe base plate, and around wheels 121, 122, 123, 124 and intermediatewheels 125, 126 to a tension wheel 127, located at the front end of theright-hand side of the base plate. Through different positions of thedriving wheels and of the tension wheels on the sides of the base plate,a staggering of the two chains 107, 108 will be achieved for a reasonthat will be explained below.

The driving wheels 111, are driven via driving shafts and gears, notshown here, at such a ratio to the main shafts 48, 49 of the machinethat during two revolutions of the main shafts the chains will eachrevolve once in the path determined for it by its sprocket wheels.

The rotational directions of the driving wheels 111, 120,

have preferably been selected in such a manner that the chains in thearea where they wind around the driving wheels 111, 120 will move awayfrom the rows 27, 28 of the guide needles as indicated in FIG. 7 byarrows.

Chains 107 and 108 each carry on one of its links an upright driver 128,129 (FIG. 2), which consists of a sheetmetal tongue beveled in an upwarddirection and riveted onto a chain link, the upward pointing part ofsaid tongue having been constricted in the middle. The drivers 128, 129have been shown arranged on chains 107, 108, in such a manner that aftereach half turn of the chain alternatingly (a) the driver 128 of theinside chain 107 will be located at the foremost position of theright-hand driving wheel 111, and (b) the driver 129 of the outsidechain 108 will be located at the foremost position of the left-handdrive wheel 120. The position of the drivers at position (a) has beenindicated in FIG. 7 by circles designated in FIG. 7 by circlesdesignated by 128' and 129', while the position (b) reached one-halfrotation of the chain later has been indicated by circles designated by128" or 129". At both points in time, the knitting tools are in the sameposition since the main shafts 48, 49 as well as the cam shaft 25 haveexecuted a complete revolution in the meantime.

Two additional bars 130 and 131, U-shaped in their cross-section, carrythe housing 132 of a filling yarn feed and exchange arrangement locatedat the upper rear part of the machine frame and in the longitudinalcenter of the machine. On the open upper end of the housing 132 is ahorizontal axis 133, on which a number, for example eight, thread feedlevers 134 have been mounted. The front ends of the thread feed levers134 contain vertically opening guide eyes 135 to which the filling yarnsare fed from yarn supplf bobbins 137 via a corresponding number oflevers 136, which are resilient and which are likewise provided witheyes at their ends. The bobbins 137 are arranged on a bar 138 carried bythe housing 132. The rear ends of the thread feed levers 134 are held bytension springs 139 against a corresponding number of control chains140, which revolve around sprocket wheels 141, 142, 143, 144 inside thehousing 132. Each one of the sprocket wheels 141, 142, 143, 144 isturned continuously via a driving connection, not shown, by the maindrive of the machine. The links at various heights of the control chainsare known per se, and for that reason are shown only schematically inFIG. 1. At certain times the links of chain 140 press against levers 134to urge the front ends of the thread feed levers 134 downward inselected groupings, as will be explained subsequently with respect toFIGS. 10a to f. This movement of levers 134 moves the pertinent fillingyarns into the path of revolution of the drivers 128, 129, which seizethem and guide them in a manner described further below, to the rows 27,28 of guide needles.

In order to avoid damage or fouling of the filling yarns seized by thedrivers 128, 129, the chains may be covered up effectively by aprotective plate, not shown, of the same general shape as base plate104, which are provided with two circular slots in the shapes of chains107, 108, through which penetrate the parts of the driver wheelspointing upwardly. The filling thread feed and exchange arrangement alsoincludes four thread retarders 145, 146, 147, 148 (FIG. 7), arranged inpairs on the two front ends of the rows 27, 28 of the guide needles.

Referring to FIG. 2, each thread retarder includes a bar 149, beveled atone end, and adjustably clamped in a bore in the upper end of aswiveling lever 150, by a screw 151. The swiveling lever 150 is mountedin a mounting block 153 which serves in common for two thread retarderseach, by means of a bolt 152, said mounting block 153 being screwed ontothe upper side of bar 13. The end of bar 149 remote from the bevelledend is adjustably clamped to thrust piece 155 by screw 154. The thrustpiece includes a cam follower roller 156 at the end, which, under theeffect of a spiral spring 157 acting between the bar 149 and themounting block 153, is held against a cam disk 158. The cam disks 158 ofall thread retarders are mounted on a common cam shaft 159, the ends ofwhich are supported in the walls of the frame 105, 106, in a mannersimilar to that of the main shafts 48, 49 and the cam shaft 25. Thisshaft 159 is driven by the main drive of the machine. In contrast to theabove mentioned shafts, however, the cam shaft 159 revolves at only halfthe speed, so that a revolution of the cam shaft 159 corresponds to onecomplete revolution of the chains 107, 108. The ends of the bars 149 ofthe thread retarders 145, 146, 147 and 148, which have been bevelleddownwards, will dip, in the working position, as shown in FIG. 2, intothe plane of the protective plate above chains 107, 108, and they arestaggered in pairs in relation to one another in the direction of theguide needles,

so that the bevelled ends of the inside thread retarders 146, 147,directly adjoining the guide needles, lie somewhat farther toward therear of the machine than the bevelled ends of the outside threadretarders 145, 148.

The cam disks -51 and 52-53 on the main shafts 48, 49 are shaped in sucha manner that during one revolution of the main shafts the rows 27, 28of the guide needles carry out movement in a vertical plane around thecenter line M as shown in the crank circle diagram according to FIG. 8a,which corresponds to a field of traverse across an angle of about 7.5and thus is below half the angle of traverse of known machines of thistype. Starting from the point in time P in which the front guide needles27 assume their lowest position and the rear guide needles 28 theirhighest position, the two rows of needles approach each other betweenthe points P and P through equally large traversing movements up to onlya small vertical distance (as viewed in FIGS. 9a to 9 and maintain saiddistance by one or several spacings of the needle between the points Pand P for the duration of the stagger movement of the rows of guideneedles, which now takes place. Subsequently, row 27 of the guideneedles is raised to the highest position at point P and row 28 of theguide needles is simultaneously lowered to the lowest position at thesame point P whereby the needle heads reciprocally pass through theneedle paths of the opposing row of guide needles at the point in timeof crossing P After a prolonged dwell time, the course of movementsdescribed previously is repeated, from point P in a reverse order,through points P P and P to the point P Between P and P a staggering ofthe rows of guide needles again takes place in the longitudinaldirection and at point P the needle heads pass through the needle pathsof the opposing rows of needles in the opposite direction.

As the crank circle diagram according to FIG. 8c shows, the sinker combs100, 101, during one such revolution of the main shafts 48, 49, movefrom a rear end position at the point in time P first of all evenly upto the point of crossing P into a middle position and, from there, withincreased speed and without interruption, to the front end position,which they reach at a point in time P which is somewhat behind point Pand which they maintain up to point P Then the same course of movementis repeated in the reverse direction via the middle position at thepoint of crossing P up to the rear end position in a point in time Pwhich is somewhat behind point P As mentioned above, row 28 of guideneedles, in addition to its traversing movement and its staggermovement, carries out a third periodic movement which comprises forwardmovement toward the front row 27 of guide needles. This movement iscontrolled by the cam disk 26 on the cam shaft 25. This forwardlydirected movement is shown in FIG. 8b as a schematic indication of sucha guide needle 28. It begins at point P between points in time P and Pit reaches its front end position at the point of crossing P which itmaintains for a short time up to the point P and then it returns againup to a point in time P behind point P into the rear end position. Thesame process is repeated from a point in time P between points P and Pto points P and P and up to a point in time P which coincides with theend of the crank circle diagram and which corresponds it its startingpoint P The knitting process which results from these movements has beenillustrated for the second half of the crank circle diagrams of FIGS.8a, b and c in the FIGS. 9a to 1. FIG. 9a shows the position of theguide needles 27, 28 and of the sinker combs 100, 101 within the areabetween the range of the points in time P and P The front guide needles27 have been totally raised and the rear guide needles 28 have beencompletely lowered. The sinker combs 100, 101 stand completely in front,below row 27 of the guide needles. The knitted fabric 80, guided betweenthe sinker combs 100, 101, is suspended from stitches 161, each of whichform the last row of stitches formed from a warp thread 39, fed via arear guide needle 28 after it passes over the straight root sector ofshaft 33 of a front guide needle 27. There the stitch 161 loops aroundthe warp thread 38, running into the needle hole of the front guideneedle row 27 and subsequently passing to the knitted fabric 80 asstitch 162. This stitch 162 passes from the needle hole 35 freely like acord below the bent guide needle 27 and, with the sector 163 of the warpthread 39 arriving from the needle hole of the rear guide needle 28 tothe stitch 161, forms a knitting shed opened toward the rear, intowhich, during its opening, a filling yarn 164 can be shot in, in amanner explained in detail below.

The front guide needle 27, beginning with the point in time P is nowlowered, the rear guide needle 28 is raised, and the sinker combs 100,101 simultaneously move to the rear (that is, toward the right inrelation to the series of FIGS. 91: to 1). At the same time, the fabric80 is carried along by the lagging sinker comb 100, and the stitch 161moves in the direction toward head 35 of this needle 27, on the back 165of the front guide needles 27 or on the warp thread sector 166, where itruns in and is held in tension between the guide wire 47 and the needlehole 34 of this guide needle 27. At the point in time P the guideneedles 27, 28 have approached each other to the point where the heads35 of the rear guide needles 28 engage between the outcoming threadsections 162 of the front warp threads 38 whereby the shot in fillingyarn 164 comes to lie below the head 35' of the rear guide needle 28. Ifheretofore the guide needle 28 is staggered relative to the point ofview of FIGS. 9a to f, for example staggered rearwards by one halfspacing of a needle in relation to the front guide needle 27, then, inthe case of the staggering movement of the rear row of guide needleswhich now follows, the warp thread sector 162 emerging toward the viewerfrom the needle hold of the guide needle 27 is seized by the head 35 ofthe rear guide needle 28 and is forced away in a lateral direction bythe front guide needle 27. This condition, which correspondsapproximately to the point in time P according to FIGS. 8a, b and c, isshown in FIG. 9b.

From this position, the entire rear row 28 of guide needles is nowshifted forward against the front row 27 of guide needles by cam disk 26by a limited degree. With this shift, the upper curve 37 of the rearguide needle 28 is brought within the area of the needle hold 34 of thefront guide needle 27, so that during the subsequent alternating passageof the needle heads through the needle paths at the point of crossing Pwhich is shown in FIG. 90, the new stitch 167, formed by the threadstrand 162, immediately reaches the inclined back sector 168 of the rearguide needle 28 receiving said stitch, on which the stitch 167, upon thefurther upward transverse movement of the guide needle 28 to the rootsector of the needle shaft, is moved on by the sinker combs 100, 101 asshown in FIGS. 9d and 3. The warp thread 164 is now tied up in the newstitch 167.

With the formation or take over of the new stitch 167, the precedingstitch 161 is sloughed by the rear sinker comb 100 from the head of thefront guide needle 27. This positive sloughing of the stitch is broughtabout according to FIG. 9e especially by the fact that as the frontguide needle 27 lowers, the lagging sinker comb 100 comes ever closer tothe guide needles 27 and, finally, dips in between them, whereby itdirectly seizes the stitches which are to be sloughed.

In the further course of the traverse movement of the sinker combs 100,101, the lagging sinker comb presses the new stitch 167 completely intothe end position on the root sector of the guide needle 28, as shown inFIG. 9 and, indeed, counter to the tension of both warp threads 38 and39 which, with their running thread strands 162 and 163, now form aknitting shed open toward the front.

Center line M has been drawn in FIGS. 9a to 9 'to show the line aroundwhich the rows 27 and 28 of the guide needles with their needle holesare swung. By noting this center line M it becomes clear, that first ofall the old stitch 161 and later on also the newly formed stitch 167,during their movement from right to left, for practical purposes, movealways on this center line. This is a consequence of the movement of thestitch forced by the sinker combs 100, 101 and of the adaptation of theneedle shape to the vertical movement (as viewed in FIGS. 9a to f) ofthe guide needles 27, 28 in relation to the movement of the sinker combs100, 101, as well as of the small angle of traverse of the guide needlesforming or taking over the new row of stitches to be swung so far backthat they finally exerted a pull on the knitted fabric which sloughedthe old row of stitches. This necessitated large angles of traverse andbrought about a very unsteady operation of the machine. In the case ofthe present invention, the stitches are sloughed by the lagging sinkercomb, which simultaneously moves the newly formed stitches to the rootsection of the shafts of the row of needles which form the new stitches.Sloughing of the old row of stitches and forming of the new row ofstitches, as a result of the present arrangement, takes place withoutjerks in a smooth movement, as a result of which the knitting speed canbe increased considerably. At the end of the sinker comb movement, thelagging sinker comb acts similarly to a weaving comb and heats up thestitches with the shot in fill thread. As a consequence, a very denseand firm fabric is obtained.

The operation of the device for shooting in filling yarns is bestunderstood with reference to FIGS. 10a to f, in which the chains 107,108 have been shown simplified in their principal course. Furthermore,for a better understanding, only three filling yarns 164, 164' and 164"and, correspondingly, only three thread feed levers with their guideeyes 135, 135' and 135" are shown in the fignres. The presentation ofthe guide eyes as a ring surrounding a white circular surface means thatthat particular feed lever is in its idle position according to thepresentation in FIG. 1, in which the pertinent filling yarn has not beenseized by the drivers 128, 129. If the ring is filled in with black,then the feed lever is pressed down by the pertinent control chain 140,and the pertinent filling yarn lies in the path of the drivers 128, 129.A corresponding characterization has been used for the bevelled bar endsof the thread retarders 145, 146, 147, 148 likewise drawn in merely asrings. If a thread retarder appears as a ring which is white inside,then it has been lifted, and it is therefore in an inactive position.If, on the other hand, the ring has been filled with black, then thethread retarder will clip with its bevelled bar end below the plane ofthe surface of the protective plate (not shown), which covers up thechains 107, 108 in the manner described above. The dot in the ring ofthe thread retarder 145 in FIG. indicates that this thread retarder isjust being raised from its active position to its inactive position,while the X in the ring of the thread retarder 146 in the same figurerepresents that a lowering of this thread retarder is just taking place.

In FIG. 1011, all three guide eyes 135, and 135" of the thread feedlever are raised. The filling threads 164 and 164 extend from the guideeyes 135 and 135 to the left end of the rows 27, 28 of the guideneedles, and there they are guided around the lowered outside threadretarder 145. The filling yarn 164 extends from guide eye 135" to theright-hand end of the needle rows 27, 28 and there it is guided aroundthe lowered inside thread retarder 147. The leading driver 129 of theoutside chain 108 is just about to pass below the filling yarn 164.

Just as driver 129 has run under the filling yarn 164, the feed leverfor yarn 164 is pressed down with the guide eye 135. As a result, thefilling yarn 164 reaches the path of the lagging driver 128. After theleading 1 1 driver 129 has passed underneath the filling yarn 164", thefeed lever for yarn 164" is also down and the filling yarn 164" likewisereaches the path of the lagging driver 128. The latter seizes the twofilling yarns 164 and 164" and at first pulls them parallel to the rows27, 28 of the guide needles and then pulls them out at a right angle tosaid rows in the shape of a loop (FIGS. b and 100).

During this loop-shaped pulling out, the loop sector of the filling yarn164, running to the thread retarder 145, arrives in front of theleft-hand inside thread retarder 146, which now is lowered, while theleft-hand outside loop retarder 145 is raised (FIG. 10c). As a result,the left-hand thread retarder 146 releases the filling yarns 164, 164",164. The filling yarn 164, however, is held immediately by the left-handinside thread retarder 146, while the loop-shaped pulled out fillingyarn 164 is released completely.

Simultaneously, the right-hand inside thread retarder 147 has also beenraised and opens the way for the shooting in of the loop strand of thefilling yarn 164, leading to the fabric, into the knitting shed openedtoward the rear at this point, where this loop strand arrives below theheads of the rear row 28 of guide needles. In order to assure theshooting in of the filling thread it is possible to arrange metal guideplates 169, if need be, between the inside thread retarders 146, 147 andthe front ends of the rows 27, 28 of the guide needles, as indicated inFIG. 9a: at 169 in a broken line. The guide plates will press thefilling yarns downward in the final sector of the shooting and move themsecurely below the heads of the front row of guide needles.

As soon as the loop strand of the filling yarn 164 has been completelyshot into the knitting shed, the feed levers with the guide eyes 135 and135" return to their rest position and the right-hand outside threadretarder 148 is lowered, as shown in FIG. 10d. As a result, the fillingyarns 164 and 164" have now been looped around thread retarder 148 bythe driver 128 (which now leads), and they retain this state when theleading driver 128, according to FIG. 10c, releases the filling yarns164 and 164". After release of these two filling yarns and after driver128 has passed therebeneath, the guide eye 135 of the filling yarn 164again is lowered and brings the filling yarn 164 into the path of thelagging driver 129. When subsequently the leading driver 128 has rununderneath the filling yarn 164, the guide eye 135 is also lowered andmoves this filling yarn likewise into the path of the lagging driver129, which now pulls out the filling yarns 164 and 164' in the reversedirection, as described below, into a loop (FIG. 10 and at the end ofthis pulling out movement shoots in the strand 164 of this filling yarn,running to the fabric, into the again rearwardly opened knitting shed.At the same time, the raising and lowering of the thread retarder isrepeated in a manner similar to the process described above, so thatfinally after competition of the shooting in of the filling and renewedrunning of the drivers 128, 129 toward the right, the state shown inFIG. 10a is again reached.

The preferred direction of rotation of the driving wheels 111, 120,which has been mentioned above in connection with the description of thestructure of the device for shooting in the filling, is such that thechains 107, 108 move away inside the looping range of the driving wheelsfrom the rows of guide needles and this assures that the shot in strandsof loops of the filling yarn will lie tensed in the knitting shed andthat no loose loops of the thread will develop at the edges of thefabric.

For proper functioning of the described device it is important thatthose filling yarns already extending to the end of the fabric towardswhich the drivers move always be moved into the path of the laggingdriver. Only when this is taken into consideration will these leadingfilling yarns be resuspended by the lagging driver, from an innerretarder 146 or 147 to the outside thread retarder 145 or 148.

Otherwise, and particularly in the case of use of a larger number offilling yarns with correspondingly numerous feed levers, one or severalfilling yarns can be selected simultaneously in any desired sequence forshooting in, and it will not be necessary that the same filling yarnalways be shot in twice in succession. Rather, under certain conditions,which one skilled in the art will easily recognize, one can through asuitable selection of the sequence, change the filling yarn, after eachshooting in of the filling yarn so that one can operate therefore pic apic.

Although the invention had been described in considerable detail withrespect to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that theinvention is capable of numerous modifications and variations apparentto those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A process for the shooting-in of filling yarns in a warp knittingmachine of the type having two longitudinally extending rows of guideneedles facing each other, the neeedles of each row being transposed inrelation to the neeedles of the other row, for forming a links-linksknitted fabric through reciprocal takeover of stitches wherein the warpthreads running from the holes in the needles to the fabric form an openshed alternatingly toward the one and the other longitudinal side of themachine, comprising the steps of: running a length of filling yarn froma supply source located at a feed position approximately in thelongitudinal center of the machine to one end of the facing rows ofneedles via first thread retarder located on the said one end of thefacing rows of neeedles and being in an effective position for retainingthe said filling yarn, engaging said length between the supply sourceand the said one end by driving means, pulling the length in thedirection towards the other end of the facing rows of needles, therebyforming a loop, the apex of which moves on a path substantially parallelto and spaced from the facing rows of needles, continuing said pullingstep until the strand of the loop between the apex and the said one endof the rows is swung into the knitting shed opened at this time, thusbringing the said first thread retarder to an ineffective position inwhich it releases the filling yarn and bringing a second thread retarderlocated on the said other end of the facing rows from an ineffectiveposition to an effective position for retaining the said filling yarn asthe said driving means returns to the opposite direction.

2. A process according to claim 1 wherein during the swinging of theloop strand into the knitting shed, the loop apex is located beyond thesaid other end of the longitudinal extent of the rows of guide neeedlesand is moving transversely towards the said rows of needles.

3. A process according to claim 2 wherein the loop strand running fromthe apex to the said one end, which is swung into the knitting shed,moves into the shed below the neeedle heads of the row of guide needlespointin in the direction opposite to said transverse movement.

4. A process according to claim 1, wherein the stitch forming movementsof the rows of guide needles are controlled to be synchronized with theswinging-in movement of the loop strand running to the said one end toform said knitting shed open toward the swing-in side as the loop isswung in.

5. A process according to claim 4, wherein the loop forming movement ofthe rows of guide needles are further controlled to close the knittingshed immediately after conclusion of the said swing-in movement.

6. In a warp knitting machine of the type having two longitudinallyextending rows of guide needles facing each other, the needles of eachrow being transposed in relation to the neeedles of the other row forforming a links-links knitted fabric through reciprocal takeover ofstitches wherein the warp threads running from holes in the needles tothe fabric form an open shed, alternatingly towards one and then theother side of the machine, the improvement comprising: means for runningat least one length of filling yarn from a supply source located at afeed position approximately in the longitudinal center of the machine toone end of the facing rows of needles, a driving means movable along apath back and forth along one side of the rows of needles for engagingat least one length between said source and said one end to pull thelength towards the other end of the rows of neeedles, thereby forming aloop, the apex of which moves along said path toward the said other endof the rows of neeedles, and for swinging that strand of the loopbetween the apex and the said other end into the said knittting shedwhich is formed at this time.

7. The invention of claim 6 wherein said driving machine comprises twodriver members, each movable along a separate path back forth along theside of the rows and mounted such that during said movement along theside of the rows, one of the driver members lags behind the other in thelongitudinal direction, and means for placing said at least one lengthof filling yarn into the path of the lagging driver member to be pulledthereby.

8. The invention according to claim 7 wherein the path of the drivermembers at the ends of the back-andforth movement running along the rowsof guide needles includes portions running transverse to the rows ofneedles, and means in said portions for moving the lagging driver memberin a direction away from the adjacent end of the rows of guide needles.

9. The invention according to claim 7 including a filling yarn feed andexchange means located at the feed position, movable chains foroperating the feed and exchange means for placing :a number of fillingyarns, in any desired controllable number of sequence, into the path ofa lagging driver member.

10. The invention according to claim 7 wherein the driving members areeach carried by a separate endless chain, each chain being mounted torevolve about a set of ends Wheels, one set being staggered in alongitudinal direction in relation to the other set.

11. The invention according to claim 10 wherein all strands of the twochains run substantially parallel to one another along one longitudinalside of the machine.

12. The invention according to claim 11 wherein the said wheels of eachset are located at the longitudinal ends of the rows of guide needles,and including reversing wheels for turning the chains to runtransversely of said rows at the ends of their parallel longitudinalextent in relation to the rows of guide needles, towards theirrespective end wheels.

13. The invention according to claim 12 wherein one end wheel at eachset is a drive wheel for driving its respective chain.

14. The invention according to claim 1'2 wherein each driving wheelrevolves in a direction to move the chain away from the rows of guideneedles.

15. The invention according to claim 8 including thread carrierspositioned at the longitudinal ends of the rows of guide neeedles,wherein said lengths of filling yarn pass around said thread retardersand then pass into the edge of the fabric formed between the rows ofneedles.

16. The invention according to claim 15 wherein each thread retarder ismounted for swiveling movement and includes a hooked end.

17. The invention according to claim 15 including a pair of threadretarders at each end of the rows, each said pair including an inner andan outer thread retarder positioned closer to and farther away from theadjacent ends of the rows, respectively, and wherein the filling yarnsrunning into the formed fabric pass around the hooked end of the outerthread retarder, and wherein the filling yarns to be shot into theknitting shed alternatingly pass around one and then the other of theinner thread retainers.

18. The invention according to claim 17 including a guide platepositioned between the inside thread carriers and the respectiveadjacent ends of the rows of guide needles, wherein the filling yarnsare guided downwards through the plates at the end of the shooting-inmovement below the needle heads of the guide needles facing theshooting-in side.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,286,349 12/1918 Kopp 66-87 XR1,924,649 8/1933 Morton 66-87 XR 2,906,109 9/1959 Efland 66-1 3,134,2485/1954 Kubelka 66-85 XR 3,143,868 8/1964 Palange 66-1 3,327,501 '6/ 1967Bahlo 66-85 XR 3,390,439 7/1968 Kalwaites 28-1 3,422,511 1/ 1969 Seguin28-1 FOREIGN PATENTS 44,426 7/1930 Denmark. 1,394,748 3/ 1965 France.

712,506 10/1941 Germany.

334,842 9/ 1930 Great Britain.

RONALD FELDBAUM, Primary Examiner

